Somewhere I Belong
by Eien no Uta
Summary: New Version. AU [IYxK] When genetically enhanced humans, called ‘demons’ escape from the laboratory they are kept in, what’s Kagome to do when she’s pulled into working for a demon on the run?
1. Prisoners Of Today

Somewhere I Belong  
By Eien no Uta

_Chapter 1: Prisoners Of Today_

_Song: Billy Talent - Prisoners Of Today_

Rewritten since the first version sucked. Seriously. This is almost completely different than the original two chapters I had posted. Updates will come when I get the time or motivation, reviews help with the latter but my life doesn't with the former. I promise I'll try though.

The setting is based off of Dark Angel, though the plot differs a bit. I took the idea of calling magic "The Gift" from Tamora Pierce, a wonderful author. HIGHLY recommended. And of course, the characters are from Inuyasha. I'll try to keep them as in character as possible but it can be hard at times. Sorry! Any and all input is welcome.

I also want to add that I am well aware that in Japanese "Senjoudai" has no meaning. However since the Japanese are the masters of turning word combos into common language I think they'll let this one slip

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or Inuyasha, and if you ever thought I did you're nuts.

**  
Chapter 1: Project Senjoudai**

>>>Introduction

At age 7, Kagome Higurashi was your average child. She lived in a shrine in a nice area of town, and while most people can't claim to have lived their early years in a shrine, her life really was quite typical. Sure each family member had a few quirks, but who didn't? Her life wasn't very exciting, but it was satisfying to the young girl.

The year 2010 was definitely a turning point for not just the Higurashi family, but for human civilisation. Before May 6th of that year, everything was as it should be. Children went to school and adults went to work. People had fun, technology was improving by the month, and, well, life was good. But then it came. The Pulse.

A few terrorists thought it would be fun to set off a giant electromagnetic pulse over the country.

Fwabang.

In one second, all that happiness was taken away, as computer systems everywhere failed. All that money you had in the bank? Gone. Any important documentation? Gone.

People became desperate, and then the survival instincts kicked in, each person wanting a chance at a decent life. They all grabbed for what they could, as the world around them began to collapse. In just a few weeks those that had retained their wealth hid away in the outskirts of the cities. The middle class areas turned to slums, and the slums became a no man's land.

It was in this world that Kagome grew up in. The memories of her happy pre-pulse childhood faded and turned to nothingness, and a life of hardship followed.

Soon after the pulse, her family was forced to sell the shrine. Her grandfather never recovered from the loss, and slowly wasted away until his death two years later.

Shortly after his death, a startling piece of news became known. It appeared the government had been funding genetic experiments for upwards of 25 years, and had created a new type of human. If you could call them that.

Their creators called them Demons. Human DNA had been spliced with animal DNA, creating crosses with varying results. Some looked almost entirely like their animal counterparts though capable of speech and thought. Others were humanoid, bearing little or no likeliness to their animal roots.

However it wasn't the fact that the government had created demons that made the front page. It was that nearly half of them had escaped from the 'secret laboratory' they had been kept in.

Barely a month after this startling news was broadcasted, something else became known to the public. It appeared that the project, now known as Senjoudai had announced that in order to capture the escaped demons, all humans who had showed any signs of having the pure powers a true priest or priestess would possess, were to be turned in to Senjoudai.

For as it was told, demons gave off a specific type of energy, called 'youki'. This energy could be traced, given the proper equipment. However those who possessed strong powers of purity could negate this energy. And so men and women alike who had shown any sort of adeptness to the art were registered by the government, and kept in special camps so that they could not interfere with the search.

While this may seem extreme to some, to the 99.7 percent of the population that was ungifted with these holy powers, it was a perfect solution to guarantee them safety. Mass support was given to this motion, those that possessed 'The Gift' seen as no better than the demons themselves.

Despite this, a small number of Gifted had escaped The Registration, and it was these few that were so highly sought by both sides. Senjoudai desired to eliminate them so that they would no longer interfere with the hunt, while the few demons that remained free searched for them with protection in mind. Living with a person of the holy arts gave them almost guaranteed safety.

People like the Higurashi family crept down and hid in the slums, where they hoped they could slip through the cracks and avoid detection. Power had been in the Higurashi blood for centuries. Though it sometimes skipped a generation, as it had to Kagome's mother, her daughter showed signs The Gift.

This knowledge was kept from both Kagome and her brother, Souta. And for the most part the two lived fairly normal lives for those in their situation.

By the time Kagome was 15, her mother had died. Ever since her father's death when she was 5, her mother had been slowly wasting away. The post-pulse conditions too much for her fragile heart. Souta had run away when he found her body. She hadn't heard from him since. And so Kagome was left alone.

Three years later, in the year 2020 our story begins.

>>>Tokyo, Japan

"Higurashi! Your next load is up!"

"Coming!"

Closing the old magazine she'd been reading, Kagome stood up and headed over to where Hojo, her boss, stood with the pile of packages she was supposed to deliver.

"Where to?" She asked, taking the parcels and shoving them into the dirty backpack she wore.

"Sector 8." Was Hojo's quick reply. "If you're worried Higurashi, I could always accompany you to deliver them." He hinted. It was a well-known fact that her boss was interested in her. While Kagome didn't return the feelings in the slightest, she tried her best to keep on Hojo's good side so that she could keep her job.

"Ah. No thank you. I think I'll be fine." Kagome replied, brushing her shoulder length black hair behind her ear as she turned to grab her bike.

Ah, her bike. It certainly wasn't anything special, but it had taken half of the small amount of money her mom had left when she died to buy it. Without the bike, Kagome would be out of a job and on the streets in no time.

As Kagome rode out of the entrance to 'As Fast Delivery Service', her place of employment located in Sector 5, she prepped herself for the long ride to her first stop.

Grumbling under her breath, she wondered what she'd done to deserve this. Delivering anything more than one sector away was a serious pain due to the long lines to get through checkpoints. Her status as a delivery person gave her a pass to get through the checkpoints without too much hassle, but that only kicked in when she was within shouting distance of the guards.

One hour and three sectors later, she reached her first stop. Pulling the package out, which was addressed to a 'Sango' something or other. Double-checking the address as she walked her bike up to the door, Kagome gave the place a once-over.

It wasn't too bad looking considering Sector 8 was one of the worst places to live. Sure two of the windows were boarded up, and the door didn't fit on quite right. But overall it was a pretty nice place, attached to 8 other units that looked just like it. And it had 2 stories! A rare thing in a world dominated by apartments. Ringing the doorbell, Kagome stood somewhat impatiently waiting for somebody to answer.

"Hello?" She wasn't disappointed as after about 10 seconds the door opened to reveal a girl a year or two older than herself, with long black hair tied up in a high ponytail.

"As Fast Delivery Messenger." Kagome recited, holding out a pen and a clipboard with a form for Sango to sign.

"Oh." Sango replied. Looking a little surprised as she took the proffered pen and signed her name.

'Guess she doesn't get packages too often.' Kagome thought, as she waited somewhat impatiently for Sango to finish writing. There were two types of customers that Kagome dealt with on a regular basis. The ones that got packages daily would sign quickly, and slam the door in her face. The others would stare at the proffered sheet of paper in confusion until the teen pointed to the line they needed to attack with the attached pen. Once the older girl was finished, Kagome put the clipboard back in her backpack, and gave Sango the package.

"Have a nice day!" She called in a bored voice as she climbed back on her bike and started to ride off to her next stop.

"Sure thing." Sango muttered as she ripped the cheap brown paper off the parcel, curiosity clearly displayed on her face.

As the last of the wrapping fell away, a small black box was revealed. Pulling the lid off, a small necklace lay on top of the black velvet lining. It wasn't anything fancy, just a basic dog chain commonly seen in the military. However, it obviously meant something to Sango, because after staring at it for a minute she said the only word that could describe what she was feeling.

"Shit."

>>>

'Ugh. Glad that's over with.' Kagome thought as she peddled down some of the dirtier streets in Sector 8. Noticing her surroundings she sped up a bit. 'Sector 5 can't really be classified as nice, but it's sure better than this place.'

Then, from an alley just to the right of her, she heard a shout. Always the curious one, Kagome felt the irresistible urge to investigate. 'Ok, just take one look to make sure nobody's in trouble, then I'm on my way.' The dark haired girl told herself, pushing that pesky half of her brain that told her she should bike as hard as she could in the opposite direction. There would be no heroics involved, just a quick peek and then she would be back on her way.

The scene that lay before her certainly was not what she was expecting. A group of men in black military uniforms were chasing a white-haired man who could only be a few years older then Kagome.

Kagome stayed frozen, one foot resting on the ground as she balanced her bicycle. As they came closer, the features of the man being chased became clearer. His hair was more silver than a white, and his eyes were a startling shade of yellow. The most shocking thing about him however, was the two dog-like ears perched on his head. All of these traits lead to one conclusion:

"A Demon." Kagome whispered. She had never seen one outside of a television screen. It quickly became apparent that the camera did not do the renegades justice. Though he was running _very_ quickly, he did not appear to be winded. There was also a certain grace to him, the way his muscles moved and the determined set in his eyes were definitely not human.

The demon saw that Kagome was in the way of his escape and narrowed his eyes. It then occurred to the young delivery girl that she was in the way and should get out of it NOW, but it was too late. He was too close and would use the claws she knew all demons possessed to clear his path.

Her estimation proved to be false, when the demon was only within a metre or two he smirked and jumped clear over her head, landing well behind the shocked girl.

The soldiers raised their guns and prepared to fire, only to see that in her shock Kagome had not moved and inch and was blocking not only the exit to the alleyway, but their shot on Inuyasha.

"Move!" The closest gun-wielding maniac shouted, adjusting his firearm so that it was level with his eye and allowing for the best shot. Only there was a civilian in the way.

One of the other soldiers had the sense to move forward and shove Kagome out of the way. Sneering at her in disgust he turned to his men. "We lost him." He spat, giving Kagome and the empty street behind her one final glare before walking back through the alley, his men silently marching behind him.

A full minute later, Kagome finally came to her senses.

"Oh."

>>>

Sango hung up the phone with a sigh.

"Now all I have to do is wait." She muttered, turning towards the ugly brown coffee table behind her. On top of it sat a small black box, a bit larger than the type used to hold jewellery. Next to the box lay a military necklace, the cause of her current dilemma.

Before the ponytailed girl could brood on the matter, a loud knock resounded through the townhouse. Turning on her heels she crossed the room in a few brisk strides and pulled the dingy door open to reveal an old friend.

"Inuyasha, that was fast." She commented, stepping aside to let the demon pass.

"I had motivation." Was the silver-haired man's response as he surveyed the room. Turning back to his host he cocked one eyebrow added, "I don't see anybody dying on the couch, and Miroku isn't here. That rules out the usual emergencies, so what happened?"

Snorting as she shut the door and moved towards the coffee table, Sango decided that the best answer would be no answer at all, at least verbally. Inuyasha followed her line of sight to the box and crossed the room in a few quick strides.

Picking up the dog chain he read the engraved name and gave it a sniff. "Shit."

"That's what I said." Sango muttered darkly. "Was delivered about 2 minutes before I called you. We have to figure out what to do fast."

"No kidding." Inuyasha exclaimed sarcastically, turning back to his companion. "They obviously not only know our location, they have Shippo now too. My question is why send us a warning?"

"The way I look at it, it's a challenge." Sango replied. "I didn't want to get anybody else until your nose could verify if that's really his. I think they want us to come for him."

"They expect us to walk right into a trap?" Inuyasha grimaced. "How stupid do they think we are? There's no way we're going to let the brat stay with them for any longer than necessary but we shouldn't move too fast."

The two stood in silence for a moment before Sango decided to speak again. Weighing her words carefully she voiced her thoughts.

"I think they don't know as much as we're giving them credit for. They probably got Shippo at school, he always a bit too showy to blend in properly. And somehow that led them to my address. They're probably hoping that I'll either lead them to you, or that we'll panic and make a mistake in the rush." The brown-eyed girl finished.

Inuyasha took a few seconds to digest this information. "Hmm…not bad. Alright, so assuming you're right, we should call the perv and fill him in. You should probably get out of here in case it's being watched. In the meantime we need to figure out where the brat is being held."

"What are you planning?" Sango questioned, confused.

"Let's start with what we know." The dog demon replied, picking up the wrapping the box came in. "As Fast delivery, huh?"

>>>

"Buyo, I'm home!" The raven-haired girl shouted, shutting the door to her small apartment. With only two rooms it really wasn't much. But it was home.

Kicking her shoes off and tossing her bag on the table, Kagome fell into bed, exhausted.

As tired as she was, her mind kept playing the events of the afternoon over in her head. Being a curious person by nature, she had many unanswered questions. It was obvious that the demon had been on the run, the question was what was he doing in town? As far as she knew all of the transgenics had fled long ago, spreading out to avoid detection.

'_Then again,' _she supposed, _'they could have just made it look like they left, so that attention would leave this area. Or maybe he had a motive for being here. He might even have come back to visit a dying relative.'_

Kagome snorted at that. _'Yeah, or he was trying to explain to the sector police that the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about and they didn't buy it.' _

Laughing to herself, the young girl stood up and went over to her "kitchen corner" where she rummaged through the fridge in search of edible food for herself and Buyo, her rather obese cat.

Sensing incoming food, said cat waddled over and sat on the floor next to Kagome's feet, determined to trip her every step she took that delayed his dinner.

"Buyo, I need to stop thinking about this. It's not like I'll ever see or hear about it again." Kagome announced, getting some cheap cat food out of the cupboard.

>>>

The next day found Kagome once again on her way to work. As Fast was as busy as ever. The young girl barely had enough time to put her bag in her locker before several packages were pushed into her arms. Two of them with 'Rush Order' stamped in red on the corner.

It seemed that Tuesday, the first of May was Kagome's lucky day, because every last one was in the same district as 'As Fast', an almost unheard of phenomenon. Mounting her bike, she set off, winding her way through the traffic.

Roughly two hours and four deliveries later, the day had been going very smooth indeed. Nothing as noteworthy as the events of the previous day occurred. _'Except for that man with the iguana. I didn't know you could do that with your clothing.'_ She thought with a shudder, trying to keep the scarring memories at bay. It was time to return to "Headquarters", as her co-workers had dubbed it, so that she could get her next load.

As she rounded the last corner she noticed an odd couple talking to each other out of the corner of her eye. A woman with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail talking to a man half hidden in the shadows created by the alleyway they were next to. Though she couldn't see his face, she felt his gaze as she dismounted and walked inside As Fast Headquarters.

>>>

"So that's her?" Inuyasha questioned, adjusting his baseball hat and making sure the sun had not snuck up on him in the past 5 minutes.

"Yeah. I don't think this is going to get us anywhere Inuyasha. You know how those places work; it's like a factory. They just toss out packages to whoever is nearest and keep the assembly line going." Sango answered, discreetly looking around for anybody suspicious.

"Well since Miroku swears that company has no computer database to hack we have to go in and check the records ourselves and see who sent us that package." Inuyasha explained, leaning against the wall as nonchalantly as possible.

"WHAT? I thought you just wanted to see who delivered it!" Hissed Sango, mindful not to draw attention to the duo. "Besides it's too risky for any of us to break in and look!"

"Exactly. Somebody on the inside." Inuyasha replied calmly, watching as Kagome emerged from the building, her backpack once again overflowing with things to deliver. Once she rounded the corner he pushed himself off the wall and got on his motorcycle. "This might take a while, go back to Miroku's and see if the leech came up with anything."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Sango muttered, watching as the demon revved his engine and went after the young employee.

>>>

Kagome's spidey-sense was tingling.

Or at least the equivalent thereof. Though she could never explain how, she had always possessed a 6th sense of a sort. And right now that sense was telling her that somebody was watching her. And had been for the past 5 blocks.

"Stupid stalkers." She growled, looking over her shoulder as discreetly as possible.

'Hmm…taxi, drug deal in progress, couple making out on corner…' The girl mentally checked, not seeing anybody she had spotted in her last over the shoulder check a few blocks back. 'Aha, guy on motorcycle.' She smiled, and then frowned. Her senses told her that this was the person that had been causing that tingly sensation on the back of her neck. Now that she had identified the creep she wasn't sure what to do.

Kagome had never claimed to be the sharpest cookie cutter in the drawer, so when she decided that the simplest course of action would be to stop and see if the man came up to her, only a tiny alarm bell of common sense went off. Her curiosity had once again won the battle.

Her 'stalker' pulled up next to her bike, both just to the side of the road so that oncoming traffic wouldn't maul them to a pulp. Inuyasha got off his motorcycle with grace Kagome would not have believed possible. Taking in his sunglasses and baseball hat, his silver hair pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Shit." She whispered her voice nearly lost to that of the traffic.

"Well if that isn't the word of the day." The demon replied with a smirk.


	2. Join The Ranks

Somewhere I Belong

Chapter 2: Join The Ranks

**By Eien no Uta**

Song: Rise Against – Join The Ranks 

_Distractions: Work, Guitar, Playstation, my friend's Prince of Tennis DVD collection, Life. _

Buyo was not having the best day of his life.

He did not appreciate being held upside down by his rear legs.

He appreciated it even less when his tormentor was just out of reach of his claws. And the fact that his owner was doing nothing to prevent this cruelty did not settle well with the fat cat.

"Girl, what's wrong with your cat? It won't stop moving." Inuyasha complained from his position seated on her floor. Kagome gave him a look of disbelief before she realised he wasn't joking.

"For a start you could stop holding him up like that. He's not a toy." She forced out between clenched teeth. She had a name, and it was NOT 'girl'.

"Touchy." Buyo was greatly relieved to find all four of his paws back on the ground. The disgruntled kitty considered 'artistically remodelling' the demon's skin but tossed the thought aside as soon as it had appeared. The man had claws longer than his own.

"Touchy? You're calling me TOUCHY?" Kagome screamed, venting the frustration that had been building slowly over the past half hour. "First you stalk me, force me to take you back to my place, and then instead of explaining anything you start to torture my cat!"

"Well when you put it that way…" Inuyasha placated, slowly standing and walking over to where Kagome stood, near the door to her tiny apartment. "You might want to sit down, this'll take a while."

>>>

"So let me get this straight." Forehead furrowed in thought, Kagome mulled over the explanation given to her in the past 5 minutes. "One of the packages I delivered yesterday was to a friend of yours, in it was something to do with a missing person/friend, and you want me to help you?"

"That about sums it up." Inuyasha replied blandly, suddenly nervous at the look the younger girl gave him.

"You're not telling me something! Several somethings! This doesn't make any sense! Why me? Why not anybody else?" She half mused, half shouted, unconsciously wringing her hands.

Inuyasha gave the girl a calculating look. To be perfectly honest he wasn't sure if she was trustworthy yet. They were already taking a huge risk by exposing a member of their group to her, and any information they gave out could work against them later. Voicing his thoughts he waited for her response.

Kagome took a moment to consider before meeting his amber eyes with a glare. They had an amazing depth, and yet concealed his emotions. "You still haven't answered my last question. Why me?"

Inuyasha tore his gaze away from her own. Her grey eyes made him uncomfortable, and he didn't know why. Guilt for dragging her into this mess? Deciding that the ceiling fan was the safest place to look, he focused on the slowly turning wood as he spoke. "What's standard procedure when taking an order at work?"

"At work?" Kagome repeated, confused. _'Of course! I delivered that…whatever it was, and they want me to do something. Maybe look up the sender?' _Aloud she said, "I see where you're going, you want me to look up the sender, don't you? Even if they didn't leave a return address we have logs of payment method. Sometimes a name, but that's rare if they didn't give any information to the recipient."

Grey eyes narrowed, and the tone in her voice made Inuyasha wince and take his eyes off his current source of amusement. "But that's classified. Employees don't have access."

"Could you gain access?"

Kagome sat in silence for two full minutes. Could she break into the company records? Risk her job, her life even, for total strangers? The answers she needed weren't going to come by themselves.

"This friend of yours, he's in a lot of trouble?"

Startled by the soft question, Inuyasha glanced at the girl who had been in deep thought since he had last spoken. She was chewing her bottom lip nervously, patting the fat cat that had waddled into her arms.

"If we don't get him out soon he'll die, or at least be wishing he did." Inuyasha answered, waiting to see her reaction.

She froze. '_Die?'_ She'd been hoping maybe they thought this package was from their friend, or something, and it could help them locate the person. But this was quickly shaping up into something very, very serious. Then it dawned on her, and she couldn't believe how stupid she'd been. _'Of course! This friend of his is probably another demon! And by 'missing' they think this person's been captured by Senjoudai!'_

"Is it that bad there, in Senjoudai? I've always wondered, I mean in the news all they say is that you all escaped and they need you back since you're a threat to society." Inuyasha glared at the girl as she spoke. The mere mention of Senjoudai could send him off into a rage, his temper considered his greatest 'flaw' by his creators. However what Kagome said next shocked him; "Nobody says anything about it, but I can't help but think…it must have been horrible for every last one of you to have escaped, or tried. They say you're all evil and horrible and will kill us all in our sleep but…" She caught Inuyasha's fiery gaze with her own. "I don't believe that."

"I don't want to talk about it." The demon snapped, blushing a bit and pulling his hat down a bit to cover his eyes. In a softer tone he added, "It was bad. Leave it at that."

"What's your name?" Kagome asked, her head bowed.

"…Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha I…" Looking up, Kagome couldn't believe she was going to say this. "I'll help you. But if I get caught it'll cost me my job. If I don't have my job, I'm dead."

"You won't get caught. But thanks; it means a lot to us."

>>>

After that, Inuyasha left and Kagome scrambled to finish her work before Hojo got too suspicious. Her brain was almost having an information overload, and to cope she had forced all thoughts of the demon aside. Instead she focused on the all important question: _how_ was she going to get into the backroom, find the slips from the day before, get the information from the one she needed, and leave without being seen?

Normally, employees weren't allowed in the back. However that room also doubled as her boss's office. And her friends were always saying that the shy man had a soft spot for Kagome…

'No!' Kagome argued inwardly, 'I will NOT use somebody like that.'

And so 20 minutes later, after a pitiful attempt to casually stand near her locker and not look suspicious while waiting for Hojo to leave his office, Kagome's luck changed. In the form of a very unsatisfied customer.

"This was supposed to be a rush delivery! I needed it by no later than 2 today! And it came at 3:30! An hour and a half late! And you still expect me to pay for it? Will you reimburse me for the business I lost because of your company's incompetence?" A bald man shouted, flecks of saliva covering the face of the poor girl on desk duty.

'Whoops.' Kagome winced, recognising the man. 'That would be my fault.' However this was her chance. The desk girl had frantically signalled to Hojo through the window to his office to help her _now_. As the two tried to calm down the raging customer, Kagome slipped into the office. Bending low, Kagome hurried to the file cabinet and opened the top drawer.

'Employee records. Damn.' She thought, shutting that drawer as silently as possible she pulled open the second one. 'Financial stuff. Double Damn.' Moving onto the third she spotted dates. 'Yes! Now then, April 29th, April 30th…' Finding May 1st she tore the folder open and flipped through the slips. 'Shit! What was her name again?' She shouted mentally, giving each one a quick glance to see if the name sparked any recognition.

Finally she recognised the first name on a slip. Sango. Looking over her shoulder and seeing the customer still shouting she folded the slip up and shoved it into her pocket. Replacing the file and shutting the drawer she then inched out of the room and back to her locker.

"Mission accomplished." She whispered. 'Now that wasn't so hard.'

>>>

At 6 Kagome was once again in her apartment, making up a small dinner for herself, and opening cat food for Buyo. In the end she went for the time old classic: instant ramen. Putting a rather beat up looking kettle on the stove she sat on the counter and waited for the water to come to a boil.

Several minutes later she was cursing how horrible the old oven was. She was hungry damn it! Even though she knew it always took at least 15 minutes for the old element to heat up enough to boil water she couldn't help but hope that today would be different. Trying to distract herself from her angry stomach she pulled the slip of paper out from her pocket.

As she had suspected, there was no return address or name of sender. However in the 'payment method' section, Visa had been checked off. Kagome's eyes widened slightly. That was rare. Most things were done in cash these days. Only the very upper crust still used banks. The number was written down next to it in immaculate writing. An indication that Hojo himself had taken this order. That indicated that this had been a very important person, asking to talk to the manager directly rather than let the person on desk shift deal with it.

A knock on the door interrupted her musings. _'Hmm…? That's odd. I don't usually get visitors…'_

Opening the door Kagome found herself face to face with 3 men in crisp, black suits.

"Can I help you gentlemen with something?" She asked uneasily. One of them pulled a badge out from his pocket.

"I'm Special Agent Geffen. You're going to have to come with us." The stoic man announced, moving to step into her apartment.

Kagome reacted faster than she ever had in her life. Slamming the door shut and bolting it she ran over to her stove and pulled the kettle off the element.

The agents were apparently armed as she heard two gunshots and a well placed kick. Suddenly her door was lacking a doorknob.

Somewhat clearheaded in her panic, Kagome realised that she had left the element on and turned around and returned the dial to its original position. She then edged towards the door, her back to the wall so that her attackers would have to turn right immediately after entering in order to see her.

After a third gunshot and large crash of a body slam, Kagome Higurashi was now not only minus a doorknob, but the entire door as well. The 3 agents charged into the room and looked around confused, no occupants in sight. Then the inevitable occurred and the agent closest to Kagome looked to his right and spotted her.

Screaming, Kagome threw the kettle at the man with surprising force, causing him to stumble back and scream in pain. Hot water hurts. Hot water + hot kettle hurts A LOT.

Geffen and his comrade reacted instantly. One raised his gun while the other stepped towards the defenceless girl.

"Now, now. That's not very nice. We don't want to hurt you Kagome. But you've been a bad girl, associating with a known terrorist. We just need you to come in and answer a few questions for us." Agent Geffen spoke, his cold voice not at all reassuring.

"I'd really rather not." Kagome pleaded, backing up until she could go no further. Her small apartment was not ideal for things such as this.

As the agent reached out to grab her, Kagome threw her arms up in defence, one facing her attacker.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

A blast of white energy came from her palm and sent the agent flying through the air and into his companion, knocking both of them to the ground.

Shocked by her actions Kagome stared at her hand in awe. _'What was that?'_

"Don't just stand there you idiot!" A somewhat familiar voice shouted, snapping Kagome out of her daze.

"Inuyasha!"

The dog demon stood in the doorway, looking much the same as he had the day before, with one major difference: the look in his eyes was different. They were hard, burning with anger and something else she couldn't describe.

Inuyasha quickly evaluated the room. One man in a suit near the door, holding his face in hands and screaming in agony. He looking like he had been burned, the kettle and small puddle of water on the floor by his feet showing the cause. Two more were on the floor across the room from Kagome, thrown there by the energy she had expelled. There was obviously more to her than what Miroku had hacked from the government database. One of the two men had taken a hard knock on the head when he landed and was lying dazed. The other, closer to Kagome, was standing up again.

'_Holy shit he moves fast!'_ Kagome thought, unable to see more than blur as Inuyasha crossed the room and delivered a sound punch to the back of Geffen's head.

"Let's go." Inuyasha shouted crossly, grabbing Kagome's hand and dragging her out the door. "Where are the stairs?"

"Left."

"I see it. We're going up."

"Up?"

"Yeah, up. The entire building is surrounded, but they don't have the roof covered, they didn't expect you to be too much trouble." Inuyasha replied with a grin, going up the stairs two at a time, at a jog. Kagome had to run to keep up with him.

"If it's covered, how did you get in?" She panted, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears as she bounded up the dirty staircase.

"Same way we're going out." Inuyasha cocked his head in her direction. "Did you get it?"

'_It…?'_ Kagome wondered. _'Oh! Right!'_

"Yeah, it's in my pocket. I have a visa number for you."

"Perfect." Inuyasha smirked dangerously.

The two finally reached the top floor and threw open the door to the roof. It was then that Kagome realised something.

"Inuyasha? How do we get down?"

"Simple." Inuyasha responded, turning to the confused girl. In one swift motion he picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other at her back, and jumped.

>>>

"Sango, could you get the door? I'm busy?" A black-haired man of medium height asked, continuously typing on a rather sophisticated computer.

Sango looked up from the book she was reading. Glaring at the man she stood up and walked across the room.

"What am I? Your slave?" She questioned as she looked through the peephole to the hallway. Seeing Inuyasha and Kagome (she had learned the delivery girl's name from Miroku) she quickly unlocked the door and ushered the two in.

"Her apartment was surrounded, had to get her out." Inuyasha stated, answering the unspoken question lingering in the air. Miroku turned from the computer and stared at the two new additions standing in their 'hideout', which was really just his apartment, located in a not-so great area of town.

"Um, hi." Kagome looked drained, her unusually pale skin in contrast with her dark hair.

"It's nice to finally meet you Kagome. I'm Miroku." The black haired man stated, standing up and swiftly crossing the room, brushing past his two companions. He held out his hand, which Kagome shook hesitantly. He seemed like a decent guy.

"Don't even think about it." Inuyasha suddenly stated, pushing Miroku back.

"Huh?" Kagome looked between Inuyasha and Miroku, who had stumbled back a few steps.

"He's a pervert, watch yourself around him." Sango answered, smiling at the younger girl's confused eyes. "You'll be fine as long as you're with Inuyasha or I. He knows better than to try anything when we're around."

This left Kagome even more confused as the three broke off and headed over to the corner of the room, where a couch and a few random chairs were situated.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Kagome asked, still standing near the doorway.

"How rude of us! Come here and I'll give you the low-down. You are joining up right?" Sango exclaimed, gesturing to the cushion next to hers on the couch.

"Joining up?" Kagome repeated, slowly moving across the room to the proffered seat.

"Didn't Inuyasha tell you anything? I assumed when he brought you here that…" Sango trailed off, sending a glare in the demons direction. Inuyasha didn't notice, he was busy removing his hat and removing his hair elastic. When he finished he sighed and then noticed Sango's look.

"What? Didn't have much of a choice, it all happened so fast."

"So you just dragged her here, no explanation at all? She doesn't know what she's getting into you idiot!" Sango shouted. Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull.

"It's not like she doesn't know _anything_, just nothing _important._ Yeesh."

"Um. He's right. I know that you're looking for a demon friend of yours. And I stole this from work." Kagome spoke up, taking the now crumpled slip of paper from her pocket. "Whatever it is you're doing. I'd like to help."

'_She is very trusting.'_ Miroku thought. _'I'm not sure if that's a good thing. But it is rare nowadays.' _

"You're sure about that?" Sango exclaimed, her eyes widened in shock. "That's a pretty big commitment!"

Kagome's eyes narrowed in determination. "I'm sure."

_>>>End Chapter 2 _

Alright, I updated! The fact that I got more than 5 reviews made me feel that there was at least some interest in this story, so I made myself write a page a day until I finished.

Each chapter title is a song name. Each song has a connection, however remote, with the corresponding chapter. Not particularly original, but it's fun.

In answer to a comment, this does not have anything to do with FF7! (Which is coincidentally my favourite PlayStation game. I've passed it at least 3 times and still counting! XD) The only similarities I can see is the idea of a city being divided into sectors, and evil government.

Thanks to all the reviewers!


End file.
